30 July 2010 Buckwheat Groat Day

Today was an ode to buckwheat--and to Auggie's first harissa.

I think of it as winter-hearty food. Nick asked a while back if I'd make something with buckwheat. This week he brought in some roasted groats. I cooked the groats for 15 minutes with about 1 3/4 cup water per cup groats. I mixed them with sautéed onion, garlic and thinly sliced collards stems plus fresh dill and stuffed it all into blanched collards. The Greek egg-lemon sauce poured over lightened the dish to summer satisfaction.

So the menu today was:

Buckwheat stuffed collards with Greek egg-lemon sauce (just egg yolks whisked with fresh lemon juice and cooked slowly until thickened slightly in chicken stock)
Chickpea salad
Harissa (It's the reddish paste in the square white plastic container)
Braised zucchini with onion, garlic and mint

Harissa is a mouth-searing combo of soaked dry red chilies (like Arbol) with seeds and stems removed. They are ground with garlic, ground cumin and ground coriander until fine. Then a bit of salt and olive oil until pasty and creamy-chunky. Keeps a long time. A dab of harissa with something bland like zucchini really wakes you up. As Baby August found out:

There was some betting going on around the harissa. Jon wagered a case of beer if someone would eat a tablespoon of it without washing it down with anything for 10 minutes. Nick and Berkeley considered it, but there were no takers until Berkeley and Jen's baby August decided to show them all up. He swallowed a big glop of it. His eyes popped out in utter shock. But what a guy! He totally kept it together...not a peep escaped those harissa-seared lips. Probably scarred the poor dude for life. When he's 23 he's going to tell the story and complain that Jon did not keep his promise for the case of beer....

At last I've found a use for large zucchini!

Braised zucchini with onion, garlic and mint
6 to 8 servings

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large or 2 smaller onions, sliced or slivered
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 pounds large zucchini or any type summer squash, cut into 1/2 inch thick chunks
(I usually slice the squash in half lengthwise and then into chunks)
1/4 cup mint leaves
Lemon wedges

Heat the oil in a large, deep pan. Stir in onions and garlic, salt them, and cook over medium heat until onions are tender.

Stir in the zucchini/squash and cover pan. Braise vegetables until zucchini is very tender, about 20 minutes. It should be falling apart. Remove pan from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Toss squash with mint leaves and serve with lemon to squeeze over top.

There is a recipe for bean salad from last year. This time I used chickpeas, onions and red carrots cooked in olive oil, red wine vinegar, basil, Jenny's amazingly sweet celery, lots of parsley and more oil.